Amusement device.



PATENTED MAR. 5, 1907.

I. s. MOSOOVITZ.

AMUSEMENT DEVICE. APPLIOATION FILED JULY 6, 190s.

WITNESSES lNVENTOR /m ,z 1

1w: NORRIS PETERS 1:0,, w/asummou, n. c

ISIDOR Sl MOSCOVITZ, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.-

AMUSEMENT DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 5, 1907;

Application fileiiJuly 6.1906. Serial No. 324,952.

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, IsIDoR S. Moscovrrz, a subject of the-King of ltoumania, and a resident of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Amusement Devices, of which the following is a speci'lication.

The present invention pertains to an amusement apparatus, and particularly to the class known as scenic railways.

My invention consists in the arrangement of a supernaturally-sized head of a wild animal, the jaws of which are made to open and close and upon the lower jaw of which a railway-track is arranged, the rails being continued rearward and formed to a loop, so that the cars running upon the track are allowed to return to their startingpoi'nt. 'lhe movement of a car from its startingpoint begins automatically at the moment the lower jaw is closed.

My invention will be morefully understood from the drawings, in which similar reference-letters denote corresponding parts, and in which l 'igure 1 shows an open-mouthed head of a wild animal; Fig 2, a plan View of the railtrack and the lower jaw. Fig. 3 is a side view of the track, the head and the jaws of the animal being indicated by dotted lines.

With reference to the drawing, a denotes the head of an animal with its mouth open and with bloodthirsty features, which makes the impression of the animal being ready to grab or swallow the approaching passengers. '1 he railway-track b is formed upon the lower jaw of the animal and is extended rearward and downward. From a certain point at the rear the rail somewhat rises and is curved to form a loop a and returns into itself at the forward end thereof. The cars d that run upon this track are so shaped and sized as to correspond about with the lower jaw e and at their sta1ting-point rest against the back of the lower teeth. The lower jaw e is attached to the head a by means of a pivotal joint f, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. the pivotf being borne in brackets g g, fixed to the sides of the animals face and concealed within the mouth, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 3. The rear part h of the lower jaw e is extended and has a rope 'i or the like attached to it, the other end of which is attached to a pulley j, that. can'b'e operated manually orby any other suitable means, so. as to turn the. lower;

j aw around its pivot f.

As it is intended to have two or more cars runningon the same track and haveanew car come in as soon as one has left, it is necessary to provide means whereby a collision.

of tne cars will be prevented.

l or this pur pose in front of the wheels 7c of the carat the:

starting-point of the track a dog or lever Z is pivoted to normally project with one of its.

arms upward, so as to hold the car at rest.-

1n this position it is held by the nose-n of a spring-actuated lever m, which at the. same tlme forms an armature for an electromagnet 0, that is energized by an electric circuit of a has a contact-piece 1", serving as an electric 1t.

switch. to close and open the c;rcuit.

will be seen that as soon as the lower jaw ea has been turned to completely close the mouth by the rotation of the pulley the contact-pieces r and 1" will close the c rcuit, which will cause the lever m, that is attracted by the magnet 0, to release the dog Z, whereupon the car will start its movement upon the inclined track. At the rear of the crossing s of the track a similar stop mechanism Z is arranged at the raised portion of the loop to arrest a second car that may be on its way back to the startingpoint. The lever m, that prevents the dog 1 from tilting over, acts as armature for an electromagnet 0, which is energized from a battery 1) upon the closure of the circuit effected by the first car when it reaches the switch-points t t on the lower curve of the loop. 'lhus not before the first car has reached the sWitchpoints if t the second car will be allowed to continue its travel back to the starting-point. The head 0; the animal may be constructed of any suitable material, as wood or the like, and covered with carpet or the like, which will allow some elasticity when the lower jaw closes and opens.

Passengers will enter the car through the open mouth of the animal and when the car is filled the mouth will close, so that it will appear as if the passengers have been swallowed by the animal.

The artificial head of the wild animal may be attached to a wall, and the egress from the cars may be formed at a suitable point behind said wall.

It will be understood that any suitable alterations in the details of construction, particularly in the stop mechanisms, may be made by those skilled in the art without deviating from the spirit of my invention; but

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. An amusement device, comprising an artificial hollow head of a wild animal, the jaws of which are capable of being opened and closed, a railway-track on the inside of the lower jaw of said animal beginning at the back or the lower teeth and being extended rearward, and cars adapted to run upon said track and to carry passengers, the ingress to the cars being through the mouth of the animal when the jaws are opened and the egress at the rear of the head, substantially as set i'orth.

2. An amusement device, comprising an artificial hollow head of a wild animal the lower jaw of which is capable of being opened and closed, a railway-track on the inside of the lower jaw beginning at the back of the lower teeth, said track being extended rearward and curved downward, s'ideward and upward and returned into itself in form of a loop, and cars adapted to run upon said track and hto carry passengers, substantially as set fort 3. An amusement device, comprising an artificial hollow head of a wild animal, the lower jaw of which is pivoted so as to be capable of being closed and opened, means to operate said lower jaw, a railway-track on, the inside of the lower jaw, said railway-track being extended rearward, cars running upon said track, means to arrest the car at the startingpoint and means to automatically release the car upon the closure of the lower jaw, substantially as set forth. 4. An amusement device, comprising an artificial hollow head of a wild animal, the lower jaw of which is capable of turning to allow the opening and closing of the mouth, a railway-track on the inside of the lower aw be ginning at the back of the lower teeth, said track being extended rearward and formed to a loop to allow the cars to return into their starting position, means to arrest the car at the starting-point, means to automatically start the car upon the closure of the lower jaw, and means to arrest the returning car before the out oing car has passed the crossing of the track, substantially as set forth.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 5th day of July, A. D. 1906.

ISIDOR S. MOSCOVITZ.

Witnesses:

MAX D. ORDMANN, JOsEPI-I E. CAVANAUGH. 

